


A Match Made at Halloween

by starlight_and_seafire



Series: Damerey Creations Week 2020 [3]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Found Family, Halloween, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:47:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27233722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlight_and_seafire/pseuds/starlight_and_seafire
Summary: A haunted mansion. A house party. And a corgi in a flower costume.This is a match made at Halloween.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Rey
Series: Damerey Creations Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1985257
Comments: 21
Kudos: 57





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter contains some descriptions of the haunted mansion. If descriptions of any sort of haunted house type attractions, jump scares, or fake blood and/or horror costumes aren’t your thing, then you may want to avoid this chapter. Just a heads up and let me know if you have any questions!
> 
> This fic is for the DamereyCreations Week Prompt: Found Family and Helmet. The next chapter will be posted on October 31, and incorporates the Day 7 prompt: Chocolate/Candy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains some descriptions of the haunted mansion. If descriptions of any sort of haunted house type attractions, jump scares, or fake blood and/or horror costumes aren’t your thing, then you may want to avoid this chapter. Just a heads up and let me know if you have any questions!
> 
> This fic is for the DamereyCreations Week Prompt: Found Family and Helmet. The next chapter will be posted on October 31, and incorporates the Day 7 prompt: Chocolate/Candy.

Rey climbs out of Rose’s car, closing the door behind her distractedly as she takes in the sight before her.

“I can’t believe you’ve never been to one of these things before,” Rose says, walking around from the driver’s side to join Rey and Finn, who was currently climbing out of the backseat.

Rey had tried to get him to take the front seat earlier, but he had just held the door open for her and ushered her in.

She thought it was because her friend was just being his usual kind and generous self. Instead, he used the opportunity to poke her at random times without warning, causing her to jump in her seat.

“Just getting you in the mood!” He had chirped way too brightly.

That’s okay. She’ll get her revenge soon enough.

But for now, she tells Rose “Never had much of an opportunity where I grew up.” And yeah, part of it was due to the fact that she had grown up in a rural area, nothing but miles and miles of corn fields as far as the eye could see. And yeah, another part of it was that she just never had much of a chance to do stuff like that, not with the foster father she grew up with.

But then she had made her way to college where she found Finn. But it wasn’t until Finn had met Rose a few years after graduation, that she had ever found herself at a place like this.

With a curious and assessing eye that had served her well on her foster father’s farm, she studies the outer portion of the ramshackle mansion. Well, at least it looked ramshackle, but that might have had something to do with the decorations. With night having long since fallen, the whole house was lit up in an eerie, sickly green light. Cobwebs rained down from the roof to the ground, winding around each tall column lining the front. There were ominously dark stains too, and chips of paint had fallen away from the walls, further reinforcing the feeling of abandonment and decay.

She shivers, telling herself it’s only because of the sharp chill in the fall air.

Rose looks at her worriedly as Rey pulls her thick cardigan a little tighter around herself. “You alright? We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

Rey shakes her head and gives Rose a toothy smile. “What, you think I’m scared? Of course I want to do this.” Rey prides herself on her toughness and fortitude. You don’t grow up hearing the wind whispering through corn stalks in the dead of night or facing off against those raging thunderstorms and not develop a bit of an iron will.

Finn bumps her shoulder with his. “It’s okay if you don’t, peanut.”

She bumps his right back. “I’m starting to think you almost want me to be scared. What? You think I’m going to jump into your arms and you’ll get to play the knight in shining armor?”

Rose snorts out a laugh while Finn crinkles his nose in . . . is that embarrassment?

Rey glances confusedly between the two.

“Not exactly,” Finn begins, letting the sentence peter off unfinished. As if that doesn’t heighten her curiosity even further.

Rose takes Finn’s hands in hers and gives him a shit-eating grin. “What he doesn’t want to say is that it’s more likely he’ll be jumping into my arms.”

“I’m not scared,” Finn declares adamantly. “I just startle easily.”

“It’s alright babe.” Rose wraps her arms around him, pulling him close. “I don’t mind. I’ll protect you.” Then she leers at Rey, teasingly. “And if you want, I can protect you too.”

Rey can’t help but chuckle and throw a wink back at Rose for good measure. “Good to know.” She’s still laughing as she turns to walk towards the haunted house, but then quickly realizes her friends aren’t following.

Finn catches her eye and tells her, “They’ll be here in just a moment. They got caught up at work.”

That makes absolutely zero sense to her. “What do you mean? Who got caught up at work?”

Finn blinks at her a few times, looking puzzled. “My friends from work I invited along. I told you . . .” He trails off and slaps a hand to his face. “I _was_ going to tell you that night when we came over to your apartment for dinner and a movie, but . . .”

But when he and Rose arrived, Rey had immediately challenged Finn to a hot dog eating contest. She bested him by eating three more hot dogs than him while Rose had quickly tapped out, instead choosing to snack on a bag of Starbursts as she taunted the two into further competition.

The rest of the night wasn’t as much fun, both Finn and Rey nursing belly aches throughout the movie portion of the evening.

Finn just shrugs at her now. “But I forgot.”

Rey bites back her sigh. She thought tonight was going to be just the three of them. It was the next night that she’d have to deal with the massive crowd at Paige Tico’s, Rose’s older sister, annual Halloween Bonanza.

Rey wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of crowds. She blames the corn fields and, well, the general lack of people amongst said corn fields and farmland.

She stares down at her phone, it’s screen open on her ticket. The time listed on it to begin their adventure stared unceasingly back at her as the minutes ticked down.

If they didn’t get a move on, they would miss it, and who knows if they’ll get another spot any time soon?

As she was opening her mouth to give Finn and Rose a warning that they needed to go now, a car pulled in next to them. Five people crowded out of a car that honestly seemed much too small to hold all of them.

Finn was shouting out introductions that no one really had time to hear as Rey hustled them all to the entrance.

Rey wasn’t about to miss her first haunted house for anything.

Still, a petite woman with long glossy black hair pulled back into a ponytail ran up to her and nudges her shoulder with her own.

“Jess!” Rey grins down at the woman, surprised but delighted to see her frequent sparring partner amongst the other group. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

Jess grins at her, holding out her phone for her ticket to be scanned at the entrance. “When word got around, I knew I couldn’t miss it.”

Rey follows behind her as she lets her own ticket be scanned. “I didn’t even realize you knew Finn!”

Jess laughs. “Finn shows up at our office all the time just to hang out. I mean, with the way—"

Before Jess could finish though—leaving Rey more than a little confused, thinking _what office?_ —their group is ushered inside a large room filled with some clearly fake antique furniture covered in cobwebs and spattered with more than a little fake blood. Off to one side sits a large curving stairwell, showcased to full effect in the brightly lit room.

Well, it was brightly lit for a moment.

Suddenly, the room falls into darkness, and Rey can just make out Finn’s soft gasp right behind her, along with a few others she doesn’t recognize.

Loud, dramatic music begins to fill the air. Rey can feel the deep bass of it beneath her feet and lets the sensation fill her.

The lights then pop back on, but they’re dimmer this time. Yet it does nothing to conceal the four figures near the top of the stairway, their pale plasticine masks and hideous smiles staring back at them.

Finn jumps behind her.

Or maybe it was her that jumped. It’s hard to tell.

The group, eight in all, are then shuffled through the rooms. Along the way they’re met with all sorts of grotesque, deformed figures, blood visible and flesh desecrated, minor chords and dissonant sounds and screams of horror filling the air. After completing the bottom and top floors of the creaky old house, they were hustled down the back stairs, clawing their way through cobwebs, as the music rumbled over them.

Rey knows it’s all fake, but still, the adrenaline flows through her, prickling underneath her skin.

Rose, who’s walking just behind her, squeezes her elbow reassuringly, and Rey turns to give her a smile in return. But as she does so, she spots Finn’s hand clutched tight around Rose’s bicep. She arches an eyebrow, unable to stop the smirk from rising to her lips. “You alright there, peanut?” Finn’s her brother in all but blood. He has been for years. So she’d be remiss in her sisterly duties if she didn’t tease him every once in a while.

Finn’s eyes narrow in response. “You can’t fool me, Skywalker.”

 _Damn_.

He knows her too well. She wants to blame Finn’s almost preternatural intuition and perception. But really, with everything they’ve gone through together, the things they’ve talked about and the closeness they share, it’s no surprise he was somehow able to deduce that maybe she’s a little more scared than she’s letting on.

Or maybe it’s the subtle tremor in her hands.

Still, she knows there’s nothing to actually be afraid of, and there’s a part of her that’s enjoying the thrum of adrenaline through her veins.

At the bottom of the stairs, they move past the landing into a dimly lit room. There’s barely enough light from the flickering lanterns in the corners to really see anything but then they’re led out the back door.

The sprawling gardens are impressive even in the dark of night, the crescent moon and glittering stars providing just enough illumination for them as they make their way into large hedgerows. Even with the decorations dotted along the space, she can see the hedges are a deep, pretty green and she can’t help but inhale the fresh, lively scents all around her.

She wishes she could see this place during the day in the height of spring and summer. She’s always wanted a garden of her own, and this? This is something else entirely.

She takes another deep calming breath in, letting the adrenaline from moments before subside. It’s a delightful reprieve from the dark, claustrophobic interior of the house, filled with the sounds of horror, the scents of sweat and dust, and actors jumping from dark corners.

Maybe that’s why she jumps in fright, a shrill shriek escaping her mouth, as an actor comes around the shrubberies ahead, thrusting a chainsaw covered in spatters of fake blood at them.

She jumps backwards, her arms immediately reaching out to clutch at the person nearest to her. A set of arms wrap around her as they shout too.

Her heart is galloping in her chest, and it takes a long moment for her fright to recede. There’s a sort of giddy laughter starting amongst her friends now too, and it’s only when that sound sinks into her that she realizes Finn and Rose are on the other side of the group, and she has no idea whose strong, solid body she’s pressed against.

She takes a deep breath in as she pulls back to look at just who she’s holding—and who’s holding her— but honestly, that’s a mistake. A warm, woodsy scent fills her nose, and she honestly just wants to take a moment to close her eyes and breath it in. It’s heady, but unlike the fright that had just coursed through her, it leaves her reeling in the best of ways.

Then she meets the person’s eyes, and—

_Oh. Oh wow._

In her fear, she had managed to clutch a very, very good-looking man. And said good-looking man’s arms were currently wrapped around her.

She blinks.

Suddenly, his arms leave her waist, and his hand comes up to rub the back of his neck anxiously. Even in the dim moonlight, and the few lanterns scattered throughout the hedgerows, she can see the faintest hint of a blush dusting the top of his cheekbones.

Her stomach does a little flip.

“Um, hi,” he mumbles. “I’m Poe.”

His grin is cute, but a little shy. She has a feeling he’s not normally shy. Not when she realizes that this is the Poe that Finn’s told her so much about.

“I recognize the name. So _you’re_ Poe. Poe Dameron. Finn’s told me a lot about you. I’m Rey.”

“I know,” Poe smiles. It’s a nice smile. Finn mentioned he had a nice smile—and it seemed weird that he had mentioned that so specifically when he told her, but now she sees why—but honestly, Finn hadn’t even come close to describing just how lovely it was. “I recognize your name. Finn’s told me a lot about you too.”

She shakes her head. “Don’t believe a word of it.”

“It was all good things, I swear,” he stammers out, as if he’s suddenly worried he’s offended her in some way. “Seriously, all he talks about is how wonderful and brilliant you are.”

She grins at him. “Then really don’t believe a word he says.”

“Hey you two, are you coming?”

They both jump when Rose’s shout carries over to them from near the exit of the garden. Rey had no idea how the rest of the group managed to get there without the two of them noticing.

She glances at Poe and sees his cheeks are now a deep red. She thinks hers must be much the same. She quickly averts her eyes and tucks a lock of hair behind her ear—and just what is going on with her, she thinks, she’s never been the type to get shy like this—and after one last smile between them, the two hurry to catch up with their friends.

She trots up to Finn, her eyes roving over his face, noting his wide eyes and the fine sheen of sweat on his forehead. Even his chest moves a little faster than normal for someone in such good shape as he is in. Then there’s the way he’s clutching Rose’s hand tightly in his own. She grins. “Didn’t think you’d be the type to get scared at things like this. You’re the bravest person I know.”

At her question, Finn’s face morphs into something a little more thoughtful. “Well, I know it’s fake. It’s easy to let yourself be scared, if you want to be. It’s cathartic, you know?” At that, his face becomes a little more relaxed. Then he winks at her knowingly. “And maybe I just like getting the chance to cuddle up to Rose.”

Rey quickly turns away as she feels heat warm her cheeks. He must have seen her jumping into Poe’s arms—or was that Poe jumping into hers?

Anyway, she wasn’t scared. Or embarrassed. Why would she be? It was just instinct, a momentary lapse of control that caused her to end up in his arms.

She hears Finn snicker and knows it’s only a matter of time before Rose catches on too.

She elects to ignore it all for now, Finn’s teasing, the way Poe’s arms felt around her, the way he smelled and smiled and . . .

She strides quickly towards the car. “You two wanna get some food?”

It’s not like she’s going to be seeing the man anytime soon anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I incorporate their first meeting at the end of the TFA novelization (before TLJ retconned it) into this chapter? Maybe. 
> 
> Okay, yes. Yes I did. I couldn’t help myself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey hadn’t been kidding when she said that Finn had told her a lot about Poe. And now, on Halloween itself, they end up at the same party that Paige is hosting? 
> 
> She's pretty sure this is a set up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is for the DamereyCreations Week Day 7 prompt: Chocolate/Candy.

She hadn’t been kidding when she said that Finn had told her a lot about Poe.

After Poe returned to town from Washington D.C. when Senator Organa retired from the United States Senate, Finn chattered away to her about what a great guy he was, how passionate and idealistic. And how dedicated and brilliant he was too, never failing to mention how Poe had graduated top of his class in undergrad and law school before becoming Senator Organa’s right-hand man.

Honestly, she wondered if it was possible to develop a crush on a guy you’ve only ever heard about.

“You really need to meet him,” Finn told her countless times. “You two would hit it off!”

And she was sure they would. Any friend of Finn’s was a friend of hers. But their schedules never seemed to work.

Though now it seems as if they do. First there was the haunted house last night where she ended up clutching the man she _sort of, might of_ have a crush on already just by Finn talking about him, and now?

Now, on Halloween itself, they end up at the same party that Paige is hosting? Finn had talked excitedly all evening while the three of them prepared (or really, while Finn and Rose with their elaborate costumes prepared, while she watched _It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown_ on the television as she sat on the couch in her Top Gun costume) when he had let it slip. Up until then, Finn had conveniently failed to mention that Poe and Paige were apparently close friends from law school and he would be at the party too.

Rey side-eyes Finn as they walk into Paige’s house side by side with Rose. First with the talking Poe up, and then just happening to forget to mention that he would be joining them at the haunted house last night, and now this?

Finn had seemed to be just a little too pleased on the car ride home last night.

They wind through the crowd, saying hello to friends and acquaintances as they pass towards the kitchen. Finn grabs ciders for the three of them—none of them particularly like beer—while Rey immediately sinks her hand into a bowl of candy, pulling out a massive heap of snack sized chocolate bars. Finn just shakes his head at Rey’s offer as he doesn’t particularly like chocolate, while Rose grabs a Kit-Kat for herself. Rey stuffs the remainder in her pocket, pleased at having snacks on standby for the rest of the evening, before biting into a Snickers herself.

“There you are! The man of the hour!” Finn cries out as he spots someone in the distance. He pulls the other two forward, and Rey quickly notices that he was leading them straight to Poe.

Or maybe not. Finn barely looks up at Poe and instead immediately starts scratching the ears of an adorable corgi dressed as a flower. Rose crowds in, the corgi preening under all the attention, the pink petals around its neck trembling as the dog wiggles with excitement.

Rey moves closer too, cooing down at the adorable dog as it sniffs her hand before straining up towards her. Rey leans in and giggles as the dog gives her cheek several happy licks.

“Guess Bee likes you.”

Rey pulls back from the wet tongue long enough to look up at Poe, her cheeks heating at both the comment and the way he somehow manages to look unfairly attractive _and_ adorable in his . . .

Bee costume.

Even Rose and Finn have stopped petting the corgi at Poe’s comment, and Finn does nothing to hide his snort of laughter.

Suddenly, Poe’s eyebrows shoot up his forehead, and he glances down as if only just now remembering what he was wearing. His cheeks flush bright red. “His name!” He manages to stammer out. “My dog, his name is Bee, and—and oh my god.”

Finn and Rose break out in peals of laughter, and Rey laughs too, even as she feels curiously warm at Poe’s reaction.

After a few more minutes Rose wanders off to find the bathroom. And a few moments after that, Finn clucks at Rey’s stash of chocolate and wanders off “to find some decent candy. Like Starburst. Or Skittles.”

If she had any doubts earlier, she has absolutely none now. They are not subtle. This was a set up.

But she finds she doesn’t care. In fact, the more she talks to Poe, the gladder she gets.

“I like your costume,” he grins, pointing with his chin at her costume, her helmet resting next to her on the couch they’re sitting on.

The movement is a little distracting though. He has a strong jawline, with a heavy (and heavily attractive) dash of stubble framing it. An unusual, but distinctive choice, in the face of his bee costume.

“Thanks, I like yours too.”

“Honestly, it was Bee’s—the dog’s—choice. He likes all the attention on him.”

Rey reaches over to give Bee another scratch between the ears, earning her another happy wiggle. “As he deserves. I mean, just look at that face!”

Poe smiles fondly down at his dog, who does indeed look quite pleased at all the attention, before turning that smile back to her. “What made you choose yours?”

“Well, I love the movie. Well, I hate it, but I love it too? It’s so bad it’s good. But really, I did my studies in aeronautical engineering, and I’ve been thinking recently about getting my pilot’s license. But also I just thought the costume looked cool.” She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, laughing self-consciously.

“No way! Finn had told me about the aeronautical engineering degrees. The top of your class in undergrad and grad school too?” He whistles, clearly impressed, and she can’t help but smile back at him. She worked hard for those degrees and she can’t help but be a little pleased at his reaction. “But he didn’t mention you’re now looking to get licensed! I’m a fighter pilot—well, I was before an injury, and I had thought about going back to school for something like that myself, but then the Senator recruited me.”

“Senator Organa, right?” Poe gives her a nod, and Rey shakes her head with amazement. “Her brother was my thesis advisor in grad school. Honestly, I think I took every single course he ever offered.”

Poe’s eyes widen, impressed all over again. “I hear his classes are brutal but amazing. I met him a few times when he came by the academy when I was still in the military, and it was . . . absolutely incredible. That man is a legend. One of the best.”

Suddenly the music is turned up, the crowd joining in with voices raised to a fever pitch.

Poe’s brow furrows. “Is that—”

“Oh my god. It’s the Backstreet Boys.”

Poe begins to sing along quietly with the opening lines of _Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)_ and Rey is delighted to hear that he has an incredibly lovely voice, even if it’s mostly drowned out by the crowd.

She’s also incredibly delighted to learn that he knows the song. But more than that, she wants to hear his voice properly. She leans in close, heart hopeful. “You wanna step outside? Find somewhere quieter?”

Poe grins and nods, and she follows him towards the back door. And while it’s easy not to lose him in the crowd with the bright yellow and black of his bee costume, it’s also all too easy to notice just how nice his thighs look in those tight black pants, even if his ass is covered up by the fabric of the top half.

It’s not exactly like she meant to check him out. She just couldn’t help but notice the black bee stinger on the back, and she got a little distracted.

They step out onto a porch that leads down to an enclosed backyard with a lovely view of the woods just over the fence, and Poe sets Bee down—another nice view, she has to admit—and the corgi scrambles away to document every inch of the yard with his snoot.

Poe leans against the railing facing her and smiles. She finds it a little difficult to think with his full attention on her, and she’s not always comfortable being sociable around new people, but with him she finds herself more than eager to make the effort.

“So you want to get a pilot’s license, huh?”

Somehow that one question spawns a whole conversation—about Rey’s dreams of invention and her desire to fly, to Poe’s childhood ambition to become an astronaut morphing into a fighter pilot because of his mother, and both of them being fascinated by the stars.

It doesn’t take long for them to move from standing near each other on the porch to sitting together on the steps, heads close together as they speak.

They trade story after story, and her cheeks are aching from how much she’s smiling and laughing, and she’s leaning in closer to him, delighting in his warmth, and how comfortable it feels with him, even if every time he smiles at her it makes her stomach flip pleasantly. It just feels good.

She has no idea how long they’ve been talking when Bee walks up the porch steps and immediately crawls into Rey’s lap.

“Oh, I see how it is,” Poe teases. “He already likes you more than me.”

She rubs Bee’s soft fur and giggles, pleased, at the way Bee nuzzles his cold nose into her arm, and even more so with the way Poe leans in to scratch at Bee’s fur himself, bringing him even closer to Rey.

“Well, since you’ve earned Bee’s seal of approval, that can only mean one thing.”

“Oh really?” She glances at Poe and her breath is taken away with how close he is, at how she can pick out the flecks of gold in his brown eyes. There’s a curl that’s fallen onto his forehead and she wants to stroke it with her fingers. She wants to kiss him. She’s never wanted to kiss anyone so soon. But still, she finds it in her to ask, her voice soft, “And what’s that?”

Poe’s eyes seem caught on hers as well, before darting down to her lips and then back up. But then he reaches into the satchel he’s wearing and pulls out several rings of flowers and, sorting through them carefully, chooses one from the bunch. She can’t help but think it’s the prettiest, purple and blue flowers twined delicately together, and then he’s placing it on her head.

“All of Bee’s favorites get one of these.”

She reaches up to help him adjust it, her fingers brushing his as he does so, a shiver running through her from even that slight contact. And in the pale light from the lamp nearby, she can see his cheeks redden.

It’s only when they’ve settled back into a pleasant silence that she spies the solitary Kit-Kat in the pile between them and goes to grab it. It seems she’s not the only one with that idea, as her fingers tangle with Poe’s between them.

“Oh sorry!” Poe pulls his hand back from the Kit-Kat immediately. “Take it.”

“I’m sure I’ve had, like, twenty of them at this point. You take it.”

When he makes no move to take the candy, she sighs. She can’t believe she’s about to do this.

She grabs the candy and tears the wrapper open. Then she breaks the Kit-Kat in half and gives a piece to him.

She never shares her food. She especially never shares her chocolate.

That’s why when Rose pops her head outside to call them in for games, Rey snags his hand before he can stand up.

She regrets letting the moment pass them before, when she was sure they were about to kiss. She’s not willing to let it pass again, even if she has to wait for that kiss.

“Hey, I was thinking. There’s this place just up the road that makes chocolate and they do tours and tastings and all sorts of stuff. I’ve always wanted to go but I haven’t had the time, plus Finn hates chocolate, cause he’s crazy or something. And I was wondering—maybe you’d want to go?”

Poe blinks, and for half a moment Rey’s stomach sinks, thinking she’s read this all wrong, and she waits for the inevitable denial. But then Poe’s face brightens, the smooth skin at the corners of his eyes crinkling as he smiles and he says “I’d love too.” He huffs out a laugh and runs his hand through his messy curls. “I’d been wanting to ask you out, but I wasn’t sure if you . . .”

He trails off for a moment. She wonders if he was uncertain if she’d actually say yes, if he was worried that she would say no, his heart hopeful but guarded against disappointment. But if there’s one thing she’s certain of, between Finn’s stories and the fact that Poe seems like the type to be cool under extreme pressure, is that this is a novel new experience for him, this sort of anxiety when asking someone out.

He shakes his head again as his cheeks flush and he finishes his thought. “I’d just really love too.”

Rose’s voice carries over the noise of the party and through the window as she calls out for them again like she’d done just last night, and they wander inside giggling.

The last thing she sees before the two of them get swallowed up into the crowd is Poe glancing over his shoulder back at her, eyes searching for hers and his face lighting up as she catches them.

She should know better than to think they’d be separated long. Not with the way their interests have aligned and the way they share their stories so easily. Not with the way he looks at her so fondly, and how he’s made her smile and laugh so much tonight. And certainly not with the way they accidentally ended up in each other’s arms at the haunted house last night, or even with the date they’ve already made.

But especially not with the way Finn and Rose, who know her all too well, made sure their paths have finally crossed.

So it’s not surprising that with Finn separating the players into teams that she finds herself assigned to Poe’s, who is currently sitting on a couch nearby, an empty, welcoming space beside him.

Rey turns her head slowly, smirking at Finn when he meets her eyes.

His answering grin is unrepentant. “By the way—nice flower crown.”

She laughs, shaking her head, and walks towards Poe, but before she could get far, Finn’s voice stops her momentarily.

“Oh, and Rey?” She glances back over her shoulder at her friend, an inquiring eyebrow raised. “Happy Halloween, peanut.”

She grins back at him. “Happy Halloween.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me tell you, for a brief moment, I almost considered naming this fic “Beauty and the Bee." Luckily for all of you, I reconsidered that decision, haha!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and happy Halloween!


End file.
